DWP: Million sick benefit claimants found ‘fit for work’

A third of all new claimants for employment and support allowance (ESA) were assessed as being fit to work (Picture: PA)

Almost a million people who applied for sickness benefit have been found ‘fit’ to work, new figures show.

A total of 980,000 people assessed, one third of all new claimants between October 2008 and March 2013, were capable of employment, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said.

A DWP spokesman said that reforming the benefits system is a key part of the government’s long-term economic plan to build a stronger economy.

‘With the right support, many people with an illness, health condition or disability can still fulfil their aspiration to get or stay in work, allowing them to provide for themselves and their family,’ said minister Mike Penning.

Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith (Picture: PA)

The employment rate for disabled people has increased gradually over the years to 45 per cent, the DWP spokesman said.

Richard Hawkes, chief executive of the disability charity Scope, said the work capability assessment (WCA) should be more than an exercise in getting people off benefits.

‘The fit for work results are only half the story,’ he said.

‘We should be talking about getting a million more disabled people into work.

‘They face massive challenges when it comes to finding and staying in work.’